Week of October 28th, 2012

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Monday, January 10, 2011

Hi, it's Diane from Capadia Designs and I am happy to be here with you this week. I am honored that Joy and Melanie asked me to return for a second Guest Designer week. I was Guest Designer for the week of March 8 - 12 in 2010. Last time I did a lot of Easter projects, however, for the next week it will be all Valentine's Day Projects. There is only about a month to go before Valentine's Day so it is time to get busy with all of those sweet and special cards, candy holders and other lovable projects!

I decided to try cutting some different types of materials for some of my projects this week. Quite a while ago I bought some Con-Tact paper at our local 5 & 10. I just grabbed the red color in a hurry and paid for it. Later I realized that I had purchased fuzzy, felt-like contact paper. This is the back of the paper (the wrapper is long gone). It is called "Ultra Covering" if you want to try to find some.

It occurred to me that it might be a good way to have my letters and shapes look "flocked" with out a lot of mess so I experimented with cutting the paper. I normally cut vinyl at medium speed, medium pressure and blade depth 4. This creates a "kiss cut" where the vinyl is cut and the backing stays intact. In this case, the material is much thicker and I thought it would be best to try to cut through the backing as well. After some experimentation I found that doing a 2 times multi-cut with the pressure at 4 and the blade at 5 produced a consistently clean cut. (You may have to experiment a bit to find the ideal settings for your machine).

You can hardly tell if the cut has worked when the mat is still in the machine since the thickness of the material hides the cut lines. If you look very carefully at the photo above, you might be able to see a few places where the cuts show.

By using multi-cut 2 times, I was able to get a very clean cut that lifted from the mat easily.

In one of the first attempts, the blade kept snagging in one place on my heart design. I think this was due to the pressure being set at 6 - just a bit too high.

I didn't think I could cut a perfect mirror image of the curve, however, I was able to trim both sides of the heart evenly so these cuts can still be used.

The heart I used is from the Wedding cartridge. This is a solutions cartridge and I believe it has been discontinued. If you can find it, I would highly recommend picking it up. There are lots of lovely images and some nice favor boxes, including a couple of pillow boxes.

I used Design Studio to help me set up the cut to use the least amount of material. In the screen shot above you can see that when you enter two hearts directly from the keypad they take up more room than they did when I rotated each heart and slid them together on the mat. I like being able to see how the items would cut straight from the cartridge and then to see how I can improve on the cut with Design Studio.

I also always use Design Studio to help me figure out the right size for the cuts on my cards. I set up guideline card blanks and then I can see exactly how big to make each element for the card. It also helps me to decide whether to make a horizontal or a vertical card. I knew I didn't want to cut the "Sweetheart" word any smaller than 1 1/2 inches to keep the lines of the letters from becoming too thin. I could see that the word would not fit at this size on a vertical A2 card.

Here is the keypad screen shot showing the location of the "Sweetheart" cut.

I thought the "Conversations" Cuttlebug folder would be perfect to emboss the background. This is a five by seven inch folder so I was able to selectively place my card layer (cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches) to have the embossing include the words on the hearts that I preferred to show. I used 140 lb watercolor paper to get a lovely thick embossed layer.

When I was ready to add the word to the card, it was easy to peel off the backing because this material is much thicker than vinyl.

I used the section I peeled off to check the placement one more time since the sticky backed material would not be easy to move once I got it on the card.

Here is a close view of the fuzzy word on the card front. I like all of the texture from the embossing and the dimensional word.

I used my Creative Memories Multi Purpose tool to help guide the sticky cuts into position. The cut can be moved a bit if you are careful not to push it down firmly.

LOVE the contact paper idea--will keep my eyes open for anything like that! I have also used Christmas wrapping paper--thinner, but some with flocking or shiney areas. I love the simplicity of the card--lets the two components really shine.

I love the Sweetheart card ! The tutorial was great too. I'm thinking I need to look for flocked contact paper now. It looks terrific on your card. That red that you used would be awesome on Christmas cards too......

Thanks so much for all this GREAT information! I am coming away from this post having learned quite a bit. Your cards are gorgeous!I was most excited about your Cuttlebug Conversations folder. I found it as part of a "Love's in the air" set - and added it to my shopping cart!

I had a great time learning right along with you this morning. What a wonderful way to start the week...:O) Loved your card and the media that you used. I never thought about using anykind of contact paper before. Thanks!

Very nice cards. I'll have to try to find some flocked contact paper. It sure would help cutting down on the time it takes to make the card. I haven't thought of using contact paper or vinyl on cards. TFS!

man oh man japan!! love it love it, that is really cool. i am going to hunt me some of that there paper!! i doubt if i can find it in little geneva, maybe panama city, fl. will have it. im going there this weekend!! for a crop oh yeah!! again love your creative ideas for all your work.

Great cards Diane!!! I haven't cut any contac paper but I recently used some adhesive-backed felt & had great results (it looks very similar to this fuzzy contac paper). You've probably just made the contac paper stock skyrocket ;)

Love the idea of using the contact paper for making your sentiment and heart. So, so cute. If you don't have a Cuttlebug, I picked up a great hint from Above Rubies Studio to use a rolling pin. Use lots of pressure, but you can emboss using it. Such a beautiful card will need to give a try. Thanks and Happy Valentines Day to you.

Stunning Diane!!!! These cards are just beautiful!!! I love that you showed us the step by step!!! And I love that I own most of the supplies..minus the contact paper! It looks a lot like felt! Gorgeous! TFShugs,joni

Diane, What a thrill it was to wake up and find your post on my computer this morning. I'm a long time admirer of your work and this post meets those standards that I attribute to your posts. THnaks so much for all the detail to help us learn as we enjoy this hobby. Looking forward to more this week.

I love that contact paper now I am on a mission to find it, I follow your blog daily along with Joy and Melanie's you all are my FAVORITE 3 blogs, you all rock. Always excellent projects to keep me amazed at the awesome work you all do!! Thanks for sharing a great card!!Karen dkolopez@msn.com

what an absolutely wonderful idea for cards. you can bet i will be going to the hardware store with DH next time he goes. i am a new follower and can't wait to see what comes next.smacki01atcomcastdotnet

It is SO helpful when you add in little things like what speed and depth and pressure you cut the various materials. I love it when little bloopers in life (getting the wrong contact paper) make for something really beautiful!

Contact paper? Felt like Contact Paper? Oh...my...gosh, what a PERFECT element for handmade holiday cards. Your card turned out PERFCECT! I absolutely LOVE this Valentine's card! I just may have to steal your idea! Thank you SO MUCH!

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About This Blog

We are a couple of Cricut lovers and bloggers who are excited to share our interest in the Cricut with others. We decided to do a blog devoted to Provo Craft's Cricut because people are always looking for great everyday Cricut ideas! We hope that by showing you some different things the cartridges can do, as well as some cuts you may have overlooked, that you are then able to be inspired to create some beautiful things.